After that, the man turned around and started walking away. So, instinctively, Arthur started following him. There was nothing else he could possibly do, so he decided to just play along with this man's ga until he figured out what he wanted to do.
The two figures walked through the dark hall, their steps echoing in its large walls and high ceiling. The boy's eyes kept wandering left and right as if he were exploring the place. In reality, he was doing everything within his power to ignore the monstrosity frozen in glass right beneath his feet.
No matter where he looked, the abomination was in the background, beckoning him to take another look. However, the boy didn't forget that feeling it struck in his heart, he didn't forget the horror he experienced for those fleeting seconds.
'I don't want to look. I don't want to look.' He repeated in his head like a mantra. 'Whatever it takes, I won't look!'
"Hey, boy, you haven't told your na yet."
"Hm? It's Ar- Ehem, I an, you can call 'Persona'." Arthur replied after coughing. 'Yeah, I'm not giving this freak of nature my real na. I can't let him have any sort of information about .'
"Persona? Hmm, I suppose you like to go by a nickna rather than your real na. Understood, I shall address you as Persona from now on."
"And you, what is your na?" Arthur asked.
"? I have no na."
"No na?"
"My na is long forgotten in ti. I can't rember the last ti I spouted it. But, for the sake of our conversation, you can address as 'Naless'."
"... Naless, huh? Weird." Arthur muttered.
"Hahaha! Very blunt, aren't you?" Naless laughed jovially as if he was amused by the boy's harsh response. However, Arthur didn't laugh back as he stared coldly at the man's back.
'I don't know if that was intentional, but he did slip so information through his words. He has been here for a very long ti, as I expected. I can even assu that he built this entire place himself. It makes sense since a place this size would take God knows how long to be built, by one single man.' He thought to himself.
Everything about this place felt ancient, almost as if ti had stopped inside it. Arthur was certain it had been here for hundreds of years at least, if not more, since the chronological order of events in the Divine Realm was quite absurd.
'People live for far longer than real life, and so the things they can do are infinitely bigger. That makes the history of this world quite rich. Even the simplest of historical characters could take a very long ti to study thoroughly.'
"Here we are."
"Hm?" Snapping out of his own world, Arthur looked up and realized that they had reached the end of the hall and a large door opened slowly for them that led sowhere else inside the castle.
"Please, after you." Stepping aside, Naless respectfully showed Arthur the way.
"No, you go first." The boy replied coldly. "I don't need courtesy."
"So cold… You're sothing else, Persona. Well, follow then."
Then, Naless led Arthur through the door, and the place Arthur found himself in was even larger than the hall he was in.
"What the hell… is this place?" With a nervous look. The only way he could describe the entire place was… nothingness.
Standing there, Arthur saw a large, gaping black hole in the heart of the area. The hole clearly led to the abyss beneath and around it, there was a circular platform a few dozen feet long in width. It encircled the entire hole and led to many other doors scattered around the hole.
Arthur could see dozens and dozens of chains hooked up to the ceiling of the castle that erged from the hole itself. He didn't know where those chains ca from, nor why they were hooked in such a manner.
"This is the heart of the castle and the heart of the island. Also known as the exact middle point of the Abyss. We are now the farthest from land." Naless explained. "I used this particular place as the heart of my castle and where the rest of the areas branch from. Quite clever, isn't it?"
"... Clever indeed. What are those chains?"
The mont Arthur asked that question, the entire atmosphere of the place shifted drastically. A weird, cold sensation crept into his heart as he felt the man's aura slowly seep out. Imdiately, the boy took a defensive stance as he didn't know what Naless might do out of nowhere.
"Hm, do you really want to know, Persona?"
"..."
"It is my very intention to tell you, as it is a part of my offer. However, the mont I tell you what that is exactly, you shall carry the burden of this knowledge for the rest of your life."
"Carry the burden? Is it that serious?" Arthur asked back. 'Why the hell is he speaking like this now?'
A feeling of unease filled Arthur's heart as he looked at the man's back. Sothing told him that Naless wasn't bluffing or exaggerating about his claims.
"Indeed. It is very serious. Sothing perhaps even the strongest of people don't know about, and if they do… This world, from its base, will turn into complete and utter chaos. The age of darkness will return in its full glory."
"Naless… What are those chains… What are they holding?" Arthur asked as he clenched his fists.
"So you did figure out their purpose already."
"Dozens of thick chains, infused with an unfathomable amount of mana. This place reeks of it… The feeling of death." He said.
"Death, you say? That is the first ti I ever thought of that. But, death might truly be the best way to describe it."
"It?"
"I'm talking about the entity trapped in the abyss beneath." Turning around, Naless grinned widely. "The entity that people thought was gone forever."
For a second, Arthur was completely confused as to what Naless was trying to hint at. All his words were ciphered after all. However, as he stared into the man's eyes, the realization struck him, and his eyes widened to the extre. It didn't feel real, and yet he felt it deep down, in his core… He had realized the truth on his own.
"No… Don't tell …" He muttered as he felt his breath get stuck in his throat. "It can't be…"
"Hahaha! You do seem to have noticed, Persona. Indeed… The very great entity itself… One born in the hands of the Divine One eons and eons ago. An entity with infinite power and yet it is stuck in this hell. A creature of light hidden in endless darkness!"
As he spoke, Naless stretched his arms widely as if he were excited at the re thought of revealing this information. His perverted smile and his tone echoed his thoughts like a mirror. Naless was beyond excited. Euphoric.
"A God… Is chained right beneath our feet."
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let's keep it up!
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